We’ve done a lot of talking lately about open data and why it’s so important for consumers and businesses. This ranges from allowing for increased innovation to the importance of APIs. Let’s dissect what this announcement doesn’t say:

The sale of this data is one of the big areas of interest among hedge funds. Many are interested in non-traditional data sets, and consumer portfolios/activity is one of those data sets that’s viewed as interesting data to hedge funds. With all the money available for data, it’s hard to believe they are going to leave those chips on the table and walk away.

Essentially, there’s not much here. There’s no clear benefit to the investor and the protection of their data and there’s no clear benefit in terms of security.

APIs are the big missing piece in all of this and what’s really needed above and beyond these “made up” frameworks. APIs give everyone more control, allowing FIs to benefit the users and truly keep their information secure and protected.

In Europe, the Europeans believe they own their own data, but that’s not true in the US. This is the mind shift that needs to happen to give people more control of their data and in turn, their privacy. No acronyms needed.